Page 65 of Tell No Lies

I didn’t try to talk to her again; instead I spent the drive trying to understand what happened since I saw her last. Nothing I could think of would explain this. Something on her phone upset her to the point of making her refuse to talk to me. We never fought before, so I was out of my element, especially since I didn’t know what we were fighting over.

Without looking back, I quickly walked through the math hall and into my classroom. Hopefully, I could text Talia or Alexis soon. They would know what was going on.

I made it to my seat in math without seeing Mike. That never, ever happened. Even when we were just friends, he had a way of appearing just in time to walk with me, or he waited for me at the door.

Whatever was going on with Mckayla was more serious than I was expecting.

It wasn’t just her.

Something made them both mad, and their anger was directed at me. I never thought I would be on this side of the wrath. I’d seen each of them get defensive when it came to their friends, and I knew loyalty was their mutual priority.

Somehow, I violated that trust.

No one around me seemed to notice my world was crumbling around me. Nick leaned over, catching my attention. “Where’s your lover-boy?”

I couldn’t meet his eyes. I shrugged while pretending my notebook was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him lean back into his desk. It was going to be a torturously long day if this was how every class was going to go.

When Mike didn’t show up by the end of the period, my nerves increased. He never missed a day of school, and he was perfectly fine yesterday. Neither of the girls replied to my texts, and I was starting to panic.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on the way to dance, except my body guards were missing.

I waited and waited for someone to say something to me. Even if it was mean! Not knowing why was always the worst.

When I saw Cassie walking across the courtyard, my heart was in my throat. She was the determining factor. Whether or not she was speaking to me would put into perspective just how deep I was.

“Cassie! Hey.” I watched carefully for her reaction, but nothing seemed amiss.

“Hey, Aubrey. Where’s Mike?”

Out of instinct, I glanced to my side. Yup, he still wasn’t there. “I don’t know. He wasn’t in first, so maybe he’s sick?” Stating it as a question gave me another chance at her spilling what she knew.

“Oh, well I hope he’s better soon.” Nothing. That didn’t help me at all.

I nodded and fell into step with her. What had I done recently? No sneaking out with Tucker and Andy. No hospital trips. No unauthorized trips out of my house without Brandon’s approval. Just school, dance, homework, and sleep. Every day for the past few weeks. How could that have possibly gotten me into trouble?

At the end of English, Sean walked past my desk and gave me a sad smile before walking out the door. He didn’t wait for me, so evidently the entire group was icing me out. I’d officially been ostracized by my only friends.

In a way, I was grateful for Sean’s sign, as hurtful as it was. At least I knew not to even attempt an appearance at lunch. It saved me a humiliating scene in front of everyone at the quad.

I gathered my things and began my walk of shame. This wouldn’t be nearly as painful if I had the slightest idea why it was happening. If I understood, I could try to explain to Mckayla, but she turned on me with no explanation and taken the rest of our friends with her.

Amid my internal debate between sitting in the library or in the bathroom, I heard my name. I paused for a moment, not wanting to look up. Now would be the perfect time to recreate the scene from Carrie, and I was not interested in trying to make blood a fashion statement.

Cautiously, I turned toward the sound and found Gage sitting on his usual bench alone.

“Aubrey, come over here.”

My shoulders sagged in relief. Of course, Gage would still be seen with me. He didn’t care about other people’s opinions.

I slumped down next to him and let my books fall around me.

“Rough day?”

“That doesn’t even scratch the surface.” I allowed my eyes to close and eased my head back to rest against the bench.

“I could play the guessing game, but I kind of suck at it, so you’re going to have to help me out a bit.”

“Everyone hates me.”